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Meetups FAQ

The following questions and answers cover some situations that you might encounter when you want to start a meetup.

Does Write the Docs cover the Meetup.com fees?

Yes! We can cover the website fees for active meetups, or for new meetups on a trial-period basis.

New meetup groups

If you want to start a new meetup group but need assistance with the fees, please contact us before you create the meetup group, so that we can create the group directly from the Write the Docs organization account. The trial period lasts for 3 months, which should give you enough time to establish a local presence and hopefully run your first meetup.

After 3 months, we will examine the state of the new meetup to determine the following criteria:

  • Whether the first meetup was well-attended and generated a potential for future meetups. As a rule of thumb, an “active” meetup group runs at least 1 meetup per quarter (or 4 meetups per year).
  • How many members are in the meetup group. The minimum number might change depending on where the meetup is located, but generally between 20-50 members in most major cities can be expected after the first 3 months.

Can a company sponsor a local meetup?

Yes, as long as the sponsoring company or organization adheres to the following guidelines:

  • If a company wishes to host a meetup at their offices, the meetup must be open to all documentarians, regardless of whether they are employed at the host company.
  • We recommend that companies handle their sponsorship contributions directly. For example, if a company wishes to sponsor equipment for streaming or recording talks, we advise that the company maintain the equipment and operate it during each meetup.
  • Sponsorship contributions should be directly proportionate to the needs of the meetup. Our meetups are not-for-profit and also reflect the Write the Docs worldview. This means that aggressive recruitment techniques and other marketing-heavy actions during the meetup may be considered a violation of our Code of Conduct. However, an intro slide mentioning the sponsors, signs near refreshments or a mention by the organizer are all fine.
  • If you have any questions regarding a specific sponsorship offer or request, please do not hesitate to email us or ask a question in the #meetup-organizers channel on our Slack.

Meetup organizer benefits

We give each meetup organizer a 50% discount to all Write the Docs conferences as a way of saying thanks. If you haven’t gotten your discount code and would like to buy a ticket, send an email to support@writethedocs.org. We also have organizer-specific sessions at conferences.

Organizing meetups also naturally builds your community organization and volunteer experience. These look great on your resume.

Sharing meetup duties

The Meetup interface allows you to set up multiple organizers in a Leadership Team.

Different members of your leadership team can:

  • Find speakers
  • Set up meetup locations
  • Handle meetup logistics, as described in Starting a Meetup

If you need to put out a call for help, here’s a generic letter that you can use.

# Generic letter asking for help with Meetup

**Subject:** Help with WriteTheDocs

Greetings!

We'd like invite you to join us more actively this coming year!

By helping out, you'll:
* learn more about the [Write the Docs](https://www.writethedocs.org/) organization
* have the opportunity to get more involved in the larger US and international WriteTheDocs community
* network with other like-minded professionals
* raise the visibility of the latest techniques and technologies for creating great documentation

Our Write the Docs Meetup group is fortunate to have an active community, experienced organizers, and backing from the Write the Docs organization.

Our current organizer(s) spend a few days a month brainstorming ideas and planning the events. We are asking for your help with the planning and/or activities such as:
* networking with other tech and Meetup groups
* finding interesting content
* recruiting speakers
* occasionally hosting Meetup events

Helping out is a great opportunity for everyone. If you're new to the field, it's a great way to learn, network, and develop new skills. For more experienced documentarians, it's an opportunity to share your stories and expertise, refresh your skills, and discuss challenges with other writers.

Getting a fresh perspective will help us continue building on an already great group. If you're interested, let us know.

Hope to see you soon!

If you have a Twitter account for your meetup, you can share access through TweetDeck.

Log in with your Meetup Twitter account, select the Accounts link (in the left hand navigation bar), and select Manage Team. You should be able to add the Twitter accounts of other organizers there.